Can an average person really create Zero Waste? The challenge was set and during the week 10-17 March 2008, one mother in Bury St Edmunds gave it a go. She only threw out a plaster. Can you do it too? Why not try your own Rubbish Diet and slim your bin. You'll be amazed at how easy it really is and you could even save some money. If Almost Mrs Average can do it, you can too.

The awards, now in their 10th year, and presented by the BBC's Susanna Reid, were held at the Landmark Hotel, London, a beautiful setting to mark the successes and excellence of the recycling and waste management industry, the kind of things that go on behind the scenes that help the UK recycle more and reduce wasted resources.

I've been singing the praises of Suffolk's recycling facilities as part of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, so it was great to hear that the Hadleigh HWRC was in the running for the category of Community Amenity Site of the Year,

With composting and recycling rates that exceed 90%, Hadleigh HWRC, managed by Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment, has been identified as Suffolk ’s
top performing site, with successful and effective day-to-day operations
providing an enhanced service to users.

Both
Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment have engaged with local
third sector organisations including the Ipswich Furniture project and
‘Re-cycle’ both of which are charities that have diverted
items from landfill. Ipswich Furniture Project provides an
outlet for furniture and crockery, with ‘Re-Cycle’ giving unwanted
cycles a new life. This has enabled improvements on the recycling
performance within the existing site footprint and moves more of the
materials up the waste hierarchy, with almost no environmental impact.

The site
only has two members of staff during the week and three at weekends to manage
all waste streams and maintain the high recycling rate and excellent customer
service. Much of the success of the site's recycling rate is attributed to the
site staff and their relationship with the public.

But these awards always bring stiff competition and this year the team was up against the Witchford HRC, in Cambridgeshire and Witley Community Recycling Centre in Surrey.

And the winner was...... well... sadly not the team from Hadleigh HWRC on this occasion, but another worthy winner, Witley CRC, which is part of a network of 15 facilities managed by Sita, and which has been redesigned with sustainability at its heart and strong community engagement in its development.

Ooooh, so close! They may not have won at yesterday's event but being a finalist in the awards and one of the top performing Household Waste Recycling Centre's in the UK, Hadleigh HWRC is most definitely a winner in my eyes and it was great to chat to Mel & Terry (pictured above with Susanna Reid) about their stories of what it's like being on the ground at one of our county's facilities. The passion for what they do is so easy to see.

Once again, in a good way, it felt like I was a bit of a recycling groupie following the band, and a very successful one at that. Seriously, when you witness how the awards' nominees are changing the future of waste, their efforts, successes and enthusiasm really does rub off.

With wide-ranging categories such as High Street Recycling Champion, Commercial Recycling Champion, Best Community Recycling Initiative and Recycling Businesses of the Year, I wonder if next year, we'll see more entries from Suffolk. After all, from our own Greenest Suffolk awards and some of the great things coming out of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, I reckon our county could offer up some stiff competition for next year's awards.

Huge
thanks to Letsrecycle.com for letting me come along to support our fantastic team from Suffolk. There
were some great winners and finalists, all which can be seen either on
the website or by following the updates on Twitter, using the hashtag #awardsforexcellence.

...or check out the video of our zero waste home

@ THE STARTING POINT

This family used to create an average of two to three 50 litre bags of LANDFILL WASTE in a two week period. Through assessing and changing everyday habits, this was reduced heavily in time forZero Waste Week, which ended on 17th March 2008, when the only thing we threw out to landfill was a sticking plaster.

@ GUARDIAN UNLIMITED ON WASTE

The Rubbish Diet and Almost Mrs Average are trademarks of Karen Cannard, the author of this blog.

This blog is an independent work and has no direct relation with St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk County Council or WRAP. Any queries related to other organisation's initiatives should be sent to them directly. Readers should always check with their own local council regarding recycling and waste collection services, as these vary across districts and counties.

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